Nail assembly



April 2, 1963 w. J. PETERSON 3,083,369

NAIL ASSEMBLY Filed June 8. 1961 United States Patent OfiFice Island I Fiied June 8, 1961, Ser. No. 115,782 4 Claims. (Chi- 56) This invention relates to an assembly or'package of nails for use in a nailing machine and pertains more specifically to an assembly or package in which the connecting means for holding thenails in position with respect to each other also serves to enhance the holding power of the individual nails after they have been separated from the package and have been driven.

There have been various previous proposalsfor packaging'nails in the form of an assembly or strip, but these proposals have suffered from a number of shortcomings. In some'cases, after separating individual nails from the assembly, there has remained a strip of material which must be disposed of. In other cases the binder element securing the individual nails together has been lacking in sufiicient strengthor'durability to'provide a product of practical utility,'or has been of sucha nature that it tends-to obstruct any nailing machine in which the assembly is used. In some cases also a part of the binder element has remained attached to the nails adjacent their heads and has presented an unsightly appearance after the nails are driven.

One object of the present invention isto provide an assembly or package in which the nails are securely held in predetermined alignment by elements which exhibit no tendency to foul nailing machines in Which the assembly or package is used,'which presents no problem of disposal of surplus material, and which leaves no unsightly remnants clinging to the nail heads after the nails have been dri en- .Another object is to provide apackage or assembly containing the maximum number of nails in a given volume while simultaneously maintaining the nails connected to each other and in predetermined alignment to facilitate feeding of the nails'i'nto a nailing machine.

'Still another object is to provide a package or assembly of nails of simple and inexpensive construction.

Still a further object is to provide a flexible strip of nails held together in aligned relationship and coiled in compact form :for use in a nailing machine.

Other and further objects will be apparent from the drawings and from the description which follows:

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation showing a strip which is one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view on an enlarged scale partly broken away showing another embodiment of the'invention;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view showing one form of coil into which the strip of FIG. 1 may be formed;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view showing another form of coil into which the strip of FIG. 1 may be formed;

FIG. 5 is a view in section taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4 showing the relationship of the nails in the various convolutions of the coil;

FIG. 6 is a view in side elevation showing another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a view in elevation partly broken away d in section showing an individual nail in the process of being driven into a workpiece after separation from the remain r of the p ckage; nd

FIG. 8 is a view in side elevation showing still another embodiment of the invention.

As shown in the drawings, the assembly or package of with additional holding power.

are both spacedfrom the nail beads by a distance greater than the length of the segment between adjacent nails, no

3,083,369 Patented Apr. 2, 1963 the present invention as embodied in the strip illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a plurality of conventional nails formed into an array in which they are arranged in sideby-side relation with their heads 12, 12 adjacent each other at one side or margin'of the array and their points 13, 13 adjacent-each other at'the other sideof the array. The shanks 1'4, 14'of the individual nails are parallel to each other, and a-pair of spaced frangible wires :16, '18 which are flexible and continuous extend transversely of the shanks of the nails and are bonded to the shank of each nail.

The nails are so arranged'that the heads of each adjacent pair are substantially level with each other and spaced apart justfar enough to-permit each nail to be moved axially'during the driving operation without interference from the heads of adjacent nails. Wires 16, 18 are spaced from each other to provide stability for the assembly and are also spaced from headsIZ of the nails by a distance greater than the length of the segment of wire extendingbetween each pair'of adjacent nails. The wires are also spaced from the points 13 of'the nails, preferably being beyond the convergingfacets 19 which form each point. For simplicity of manufacture it is preferred that wires 16, 18 be parallel to each other although this feature is not'essen'tia'l. Close spacing of the nails is preferred to'provide the maximum possible number of nails in a given volume.

While common nails are shown in the drawing, it will be understood that any other form of nails may be employed in the present invention including spikes, brads, pins and pointless and headless nails. The frangible wires 16, 18 may be bonded to the shanks of the individual nails by any suitable means such as by brazing or spot-welding. These wires are preferably of soft steel and are of such'a gauge that they may readily be broken by the-driving member of the nailing machine. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 the location at which these wires break 'between'individual nails will be more or less random, the break usually occurring immediately adjacent the point of attachment of the wire to the shank of thefnail. O'nthe ='average therefore, each nail at the time it is driven will carry with it a portion of each Wire, "as illustrated in FIG. 7, the wire bending upwardly as the fragment of wire 18 is illustrated in FIG. 7, during "the'penetration of the workpiece by the nail. These residual fragments of wires 16, 13 consequently serve to anchor the driven nail firmly in position and provide it Because the wires 16, 18

portion of the wire fragment is long enough to be visible on the-surface of the workpiece after the nail has been driven.

Since the frac'turingofthe wires in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. -1'is random, as pointed out above, some of the individualnails when separated from such an assembly may retain only one fragment of wire and "indeed occasionally'may retain no fragments. In this case the projecting portion of the spot-weld or braze which secured the Wire to the nail shank will perform the function of anchoring the nail in the workpiece.

If it is desired to provide absolutely uniform breakage of the wire at predetermined locations, each wire may be coined between adjacent nails to provide predetermined zones of weakness 20, 20, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The assembly of nails as described above may be fed into the magazine of a nailing machine in flat form as shown in FIG. 1. If desired, particularly in those cases where only a relatively small number of nails is required for any given operation, individual lengths containing live to two hundred nails, depending upon the nail size, may conveniently be employed in this fashion. However, when a larger supply of nails is desired for the machine, the strip illustrated in FIG. 1 is preferably coiled up as shown in FIGS. 3 or 4 of the drawing. The coil may take one of two convenient forms which provide the maximum number of nails in a given volume. As illustrated in P16. 3, the heads of the nails in each convolution of the coil are in overlapping relation with; the heads of the nails in adjacent convolutions. In this: form, however, the nail heads of each outer convolution are beneath those of the next adjacent inner convolution so that the head end of the coil assumes a conical form. In the other form of coil, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the heads of the nails in each outer convolution are above the nail heads of the next adjacent inner convolution. in this form the head end of the coil is also conical but the center of the cone is depressed instead or' raised or convex.

in still another embodiment of the invention, as illus' trated in FIG. 6, the individual nails of the strip assembly are arranged so that the heads of adjacent nails are in overlapping relation, the head of each successive nail being beneath the head of the next preceding nail in the assembly. In this embodiment the shanks of the individual nails are not arranged in parallel relation but are convergent toward their points, resulting in an arcuate strip assembly adapted to be employed in a nailing machine having a magazine of difierent design from that in which the previous embodiments of the invention may be employed. The wires 22, 24 which are bonded to the individual nails function to hold the assembly together in the same fashion as the wires of the previous embodiments, being spaced from each other as well as from the heads and points of the nails, and the wires break in the same fashion when the individual nails are driven. This embodiment. may be made by first constructing the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, then moving each successive nail axially with respect to the next preceding nail in the array while urging the points toward each other, thus bending the wires 22, 24 between nails, as shown.

in another embodiment, shown in FIG. 8, the heads of successive nails in the array are arranged in overlapping relation while the shanks remain parallel to each other. This embodiment may also be formed by first making the embodiment of FIG. 1, then moving each successive nail in the array axially so as to bend or kink the wires 26, 23.

While the number of nails which may be formed into the arcuate strip assembly illustrated in H6. 6 is usually more limited than the number of nails which may be embodied in a coiled package, such as illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, it will be appreciated that the strip of HG. 6 may be continued through an are greater than 360, in which case the strip may overlap itself with two or more layers being provided in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the strip.

While any conventional wire may be employed for securing the nails together, a soft steel wire is preferred, as pointed out above. It has been found that satisfactory results are obtained with flat wire as well as with round wire. in some situations, particularly in the case of large nails or spikes it may be desirable to employ three or even more wires for securing the nails together. The gauge of the wire is not critical, being selected to provide adequate holding strength for maintaining the nails in position in the assembly or package and small enough so that the wire may readily be broken to permit the individual nails to be detached during operation of the nailing machine. In the case of small nails, the wire may be as small as 0.005 inch gauge. For heavy nails or spikes it may be as heavy as 0.050 inch.

It will be appreciated that While specific arrangements of nails have been illustrated above, there are numerous variations which are possible in the geometric relationship between the nails of the assembly by arranging the heads of the nails in level or overlapping relation and by arranging the shanks of the nails either in parallel or non-parallel relationship.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein, it is not intended to limit the invention solely thereto, but to include all of the obvious variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An assembly for use in a nailing machine comprising an array of nails arranged in side-by-side relation with their points adjacent each other and closely spaced apart to permit each nail to be moved axially in the direction of its point without interference from adjacent nails, and a plurality of spaced-apart, flexible, frangible wires extending transversely of and bonded to each of the shanks of said nails, each nail being adapted to be separated from the remaining nails of said assembly by breaking said wires, the length of each wire remaining attached to each nail after separation from the assembly, measured from the bond to the free end of the wire, being less than the distance from its point of attachment to the head of the nail, so that, when each nail is completely driven by the nailing machine any Wires remaining attached to the nail are embedded in the material.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said wires has a zone of weakness between each adjacent pair of nails to promote breakage of each wire as separated from said assembly.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which each said Wire is spot-welded to each said shank.

4. An assembly as defined in claim 1 in which the distance between the head of each nail and the location at which each wire is bonded to the shank of the nail is greater than the length of each said wire extending between bonds to adjacent nails.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 8,202 Crosby July 8, 1851 115,567 Campbell June 6, 1871 1,046,665 Smith Dec. 10, 1912 2,784,405 Working Mar. 12, 1957 2,909,781 Ollig Oct. 27, 1959 

1. AN ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN A NAILING MACHINE COMPRISING AN ARRAY OF NAILS ARRANGED IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION WITH THEIR POINTS ADJACENT EACH OTHER AND CLOSELY SPACED APART TO PERMIT EACH NAIL TO BE MOVED AXIALLY IN THE DIRECTION OF ITS POINT WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM ADJACENT NAILS, AND A PLURALITY OF SPACED-APART, FLEXIBLE, FRANGIBLE WIRES EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF AND BONDED TO EACH OF THE SHANKS OF SAID NAILS, EACH NAIL BEING ADAPTED TO BE SEPARATED FROM THE REMAINING NAILS OF SAID ASSEMBLY BY BREAKING SAID WIRES, THE LENGTH OF EACH WIRE REMAINING ATTACHED TO EACH NAIL AFTER SEPARATION FROM THE ASSEMBLY, MEASURED FROM THE BOND TO THE FREE END OF THE WIRE, BEING LESS THAN THE DISTANCE FROM ITS POINT OF ATTACHMENT TO THE HEAD OF THE NAIL, SO THAT, WHEN EACH NAIL IS COMPLETELY DRIVEN BY THE NAILING MACHINE ANY WIRES REMAINING ATTACHED TO THE NAIL ARE EMBEDDED IN THE MATERIAL. 